Fish Poop!

[Steffyboy]

Having problems with my fish poop!
I've got a 4ft tropical with a variety of fish and I'm having problems sucking up the large Plec poops and most of it to be honest.
I've got a large syphon cleaner and it does suck up some of it but most of it seems to just hover in the tube and then sink back down and leaves me to scoop it up wih a net which is a pain!
Any advice on how to suck it up better?
The syphon i have nearly a 2ft one.
Are the electronic cleaners any good?
Would they suck up the poop easier?
Please help!!!

 

[dgwebster]

I used to have an electric battery powered one (to clarify, in a pinch I used it to siphon petrol out of my old car: the engine disintegrated whilst I still had over 60 litres of petrol in the tank and I was NOT donating that to the scrappies). It was good for cleaning, because you can simply have the water output go into the filter bag and back into the tank. However, in need of a replacement I am tempted to purhase one of the air driven ones as the batteries running out drove me mental as they are c-cell and nothing uses c-cell anymore.

 

[Royston]

I have the large shop bought one and had the same problem.... I now use a two foot piece of half inch plastic overflow pipe with 4 foot clear tube on it. I find it ideal for my sand as you only need to hover it over the bottom and it gets all the rubbish up

 

[Steffyboy]

Cheers guys but do you think it's worth while buying one of the air/battery powered ones?

 

[dgwebster]

Id personally buy one again to shift my plecs poop.

 

[attibones]

I had a battery powered vac which was ideal for cleaning up any forgotten food or plant leaves which had fallen off, but mine never really did a superb job with poop. My sister broke it, though, so hopefully I'll be getting a new one soon.

I use one of the air driven sort for tanks and they work well enough for me. Perhaps if you get one of the more expensive battery operated vacuums it will get the pleco poop. Mine was a TOM, about seventeen dollars on amazon. Like I said, though, it isn't too grand for real waste removal. I just used mine daily to help keep everything neat and in order.

 

[MBOU]

Your siphon is neatly 2ft tall?? Is it a Marina one? If so, that will be your problem, its too tall, get a shorter one and get your hands wet The tall gravel cleaners have less 'suction' on them unless you have a really big gravity drop. I use the tall gravel cleaner on a tank that's 2.5ft deep and the base of the tank is 3.5-4ft off the ground and it was impossible to keep any real siphon going so I swapped for the smaller one and it works fine, I just have to put my hands in
 
Personally I don't rate the battery powered gravel vac, they are very short and flimsy and not made for anything more than small tanks and light work.

 

[dgwebster]

just checked, it was a Hagen multi-vac that I used, worked fine for removing that poop from my plec.
 
I cannot comment on their effectiveness in deep tanks - I've only used it on a 15" deep tank, but worked fine on that.
 
It benefited me because I do my water changes by means of connecting a hose to a valved Y branch from my canisters output pipe, the canister pumps my water out. Switch off canister, close tap on canister outflow, connect other end of hose to water supply and open the tap to put clean water into my tank via the spray bar. Due to this, I am not carting buckets out etc. so needed a vacuuming method that returned the water back to the tank but kept the poop. Right now I work using a bit of ½" pipe, thumb over it, position over the poop, lift thumb, replace thumb, position over net over tank, lift thumb. Repeat.

 

[mtbdean]

Shouldn't there be enough flow with the filter to move the poop?

 

[dgwebster]

In my own case, yes most of it is caught in the water turbulence and taken away, but my decor allows for calm spots where the poop is simply too heavy and enjoying the shelter of bog wood etc.
 
A bit like how litter always collects at the side of a road.

 

[JenJ]

Personally I don't rate the battery powered gravel vac, they are very short and flimsy and not made for anything more than small tanks and light work.

This. I spent 60 odd quid on a battery powered one, and I've used it just a handful of times. The impeller keeps getting clogged, so it doesn't work, so I assume the batteries are gone, so I replace the batteries, then it still doesn't work, so I throw a tantrum, so my boyfriend takes it apart, cleans it and puts it back together, and it works, then the impeller gets clogged, so it doesn't work...can you see where I'm going with this...?

 

[MBOU]

They are great if you have a 20L tank I guess..

 

[Starletta]

http/www.amazon.com/Automatic-Gravel-Cleaner-Sludge-Extractor/dp/B003C5U2SU/ref=sr_1_2?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1369772437&sr=1-2
 
I love this vacuum by Eheim.   I've had it for a long time and it still works great. It won't pick up gravel, but I sucked up an Algae Eater wafer by mistake and it had no problem picking it up.
 
Might seem a bit costly, but considering what the plastic tubing costs, it's well worth the price. Plus you can vacuum without taking out water.    Love it!

 

[JenJ]

That's the one I have, and I'm sure it's great (and designed for) gravel, but with my coarse sand it's not really very effective as it sucks grains of sand up even if you hover over the top, and then they block the impeller.

 

[Starletta]

That's the one I have, and I'm sure it's great (and designed for) gravel, but with my coarse sand it's not really very effective as it sucks grains of sand up even if you hover over the top, and then they block the impeller.   

 Is that because sand is easier in general to pickup?   I have normal size gravel mixed with large gravel.  I just put it into the gravel and only the "matter" is picked up.